Add a field for HERMS coil volume so the correct Strike Water volume can be calculated

[jimithing1980]

I have a full electric setup almost identical to www.theelectricbrewery.com. The issue I'm having is that there is no place to add my HERMS coil volume (along with dead space below my false bottom) for use in the strike water calculation. The calculation only takes into account (lbs of grain * Mash thickness / 4). I tried using the Lauter Tun deadspace field, but this is only used when determining sparge water for batch sparging it seems, so it's best for me to keep this at 0 since I do a fly sparge. What I would like to see is a field where I can input my HERMS volume and dead space so it can do the same strike water calculation and add this additional amount. Since this volume is always separate of the grain, I believe extra water needs to be added to the mash tun in order to achieve the same mash thickness. Am I possibly incorrect that this additional strike water should not be included? If not, I would think the water/grain thickness would be too high, but maybe I'm misunderstanding the concept here.

 

[Yooper]

I'm not sure I understand what you would like to see. You want to measure the amount your HERMS coil holds, and add that to the strike water volume? The HERMS hex coil would be empty to start, and when you start to circulate, some will go in there, so you want to add the volume in ounces to the amount of strike water?

 

[jimithing1980]

I'm not sure I understand what you would like to see. You want to measure the amount your HERMS coil holds, and add that to the strike water volume? The HERMS hex coil would be empty to start, and when you start to circulate, some will go in there, so you want to add the volume in ounces to the amount of strike water?

Yes, this is exactly what I was requesting. My HERMS coil hold nearly 2 qt of wort, so it's pretty significant, especially if my grain bill is small. For instance, this weekend I am planning to brew a Berliner Weisse with only 5 lbs of grain. To obtain a 1.25 mash thickness, this would typically be (1.25 * 5) / 4, or 1.56 gallons of strike water. Since the HERMS coil will always hold .5 gallons and there is .25 gallons of deadspace below the false bottom (the exact total is .72 gallons), I really should be adding 2.28 gallons of strike water to achieve this thickness, shouldn't I? That's a 46% increase in the strike water (which would reduce the sparge water I'd use in the end obviously).

Keep in mind, this has always been my assumption and the way I've calculated it manually. This doesn't mean I'm right to do it this way, so if there is any disagreement here, feel free to let me know.

 

[Stephane Maillet]

Did you ever find a solution to this? I'm after the same thing. Liquid in the HERMS coil and under the false bottom is not in contact with the grain and therefore must be added to the strike water in order to maintain the proper grain to grist ratio.